assail

[uh-seyl]

verb (used with object)

1. to attack vigorously or violently; assault.

2. to attack with arguments, criticism, ridicule, abuse, etc..

   to assail one's opponent with slander.

   Synonyms: malign, asperse

3. to undertake with the purpose of mastering.

   He assailed his studies with new determination.

4. to impinge upon; make an impact on; beset.

   His mind was assailed by conflicting arguments.

   The light assailed their eyes.

assail

/ əˈseɪl /

verb

1. to attack violently; assault

2. to criticize or ridicule vehemently, as in argument

3. to beset or disturb

   his mind was assailed by doubts

4. to encounter with the intention of mastering

   to assail a problem

   to assail a difficult mountain ridge

Other Word Forms

• assailable adjective
• assailableness noun
• assailer noun
• assailment noun
• unassailed adjective
• unassailing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of assail¹

1175–1225; Middle English asaylen < Old French asalir < Late Latin assalīre, equivalent to Latin as- as- + salīre to leap, spring

Word History and Origins

Origin of assail¹

C13: from Old French asalir, from Vulgar Latin assalīre (unattested) to leap upon, from Latin assilīre, from salīre to leap

Synonym Study

See attack.

Example Sentences

Through innumerable “special rapporteurs” and working with many U.N. offices created over decades to pressure Israel, the council annually produces more resolutions assailing Israel than the entire rest of the world.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Politicians love to assail drug makers, but what would Americans do without lifesaving medicines?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

On Monday’s Carlson show, Mr. Fuentes assailed “organized Jewry” as the obstacle to American unity and “these Zionist Jews” as the impediment to the right’s success, while calling himself a fan of Joseph Stalin.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

China is “assailing U.S. interests from all directions” in Latin America, U.S.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Or a disgruntled independent when he assails a Democratic establishment that’s become, as he sees it, “a club of insiders who take care of each other” and mostly go along to get along.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bash 
• berate 
• blast 
• criticize 
• impugn 
• lambaste 
• revile 
• trash 
• vilify